Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ken Shimanouchi: Before I take your questions, I would like to tell you about Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's activities in Lyon. I think you have heard about the Declaration on Terrorism that was issued immediately after the Working Dinner of the G-7 leaders last night. As you know, this declaration was issued in the light of the growing interest among G-7 countries in fighting terrorism in the wake of the Dhahran bombing. I think you have the text of the declaration; if you do not, please let us know. We will be very glad to provide you with copies. Before the Working Dinner, Prime Minister Hashimoto had four bilateral meetings. He met President William Clinton of the United States, Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, President Jacques Chirac of the French Republic, and President Jacques Santer of the European Commission. Let me give you, in a nutshell, what was discussed in Prime Minister Hashimoto's meeting with President Clinton. They met for about one hour in the late afternoon of 27 June 1996. The first half of the meeting was a tete-a-tete meeting. After that, the two leaders were joined by their Cabinet Ministers and other members of their delegations. Let me tell you a little bit about the specific points that were discussed in the meeting. At the outset of the meeting, Prime Minister Hashimoto expressed his condolences and sympathies to the victims of the Dhahran bombing. Economic issues were discussed in the tete-a-tete meeting. Regarding semiconductors and insurance, the two leaders agreed that it was important to reach an early agreement in a spirit of mutual compromise. They both held the position that they would like their Cabinet Ministers to hold frank exchanges of views and make efforts to reach a solution, with the end of July as a target. They also discussed international affairs. Let me start with North Korea. President Clinton thanked Japan for its recent decision to extend humanitarian assistance to North Korea and for Japan's support of the Four-party Conference proposed by the United States and the Republic of Korea. President Clinton expressed the hope that North Korea would accept the four-party proposal. He also said that he would like to work with Japan at the G-7 Summit to call on European countries to make more contributions to KEDO, just as Japan is contributing to the reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In response, Prime Minister Hashimoto told President Clinton about his recent visit to Cheju island and his meetings with President Kim Young Sam of the Republic of Korea. With regard to humanitarian assistance for North Korea, Prime Minister Hashimoto told President Clinton that the day before, in Geneva, the North Korean Ambassador had thanked Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda for Japan's assistance. Let me add a footnote to this. When Minister for Foreign Affairs Ikeda visited Geneva yesterday he gave a reception for all the representatives at the Disarmament Conference. At this reception, he met the North Korean representative and had an opportunity to chat very briefly. That is when the North Korean representative expressed his appreciation to the Foreign Minister. End of footnote. Prime Minister Hashimoto also referred, regarding KEDO, to a recent trend in the United States Congress to reduce contributions from the United States to KEDO. Prime Minister Hashimoto asked that the executive branch of the Government of the United States make further efforts. In response to this, President Clinton said the Government of the United States was making utmost efforts. They also discussed the People's Republic of China. President Clinton said that both Japan and the United States had special responsibilities to forge constructive ties with China and the Russian Federation. With regard to China, he told Prime Minister Hashimoto about the recent agreement between the United States and China on intellectual property rights and said that relations with China were improving and that he was hoping for further improvements in the relationship. President Clinton also said that he hoped that China would join the WTO, but it is necessary for China to abide by WTO rules. In response, Prime Minister Hashimoto welcomed the agreement on intellectual property rights between the United States and China, and the extension of most-favored nation treatment for China. With regard to the WTO, Prime Minister Hashimoto said that both countries needed to make efforts for China's accession to the WTO, and that this was well worth the effort. Next, they discussed the Russian Federation. President Clinton said it was necessary to take an active approach to forging positive ties with the Russian Federation. President Clinton also referred to relations between Japan and the Russian Federation, and said if there is any role the United States could play, the United States would be happy to cooperate. Hashimoto praised the free and fair election that was held in the Russian Federation recently. He said that after the election he would like to coordinate Russian policy with the United States. He also gave thanks for President Clinton's words regarding Japan-Russian Federation relations. Prime Minister Hashimoto also said that he regretted the absence of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation at the Summit. He added that it was important that the G-7 countries convey to the Russian Federation the message that the G-7 would spare no efforts to support the Russian Federation as long as reforms continue. At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Hashimoto paid tribute to the efforts of the United States in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Spokesman Ken Shimanouchi: With regard to other meetings I will tell you what issues were discussed without going into detail. In his meeting with Prime Minister Major, they discussed bilateral relations between Japan and the United Kingdom. They discussed the Russian Federation, they discussed China issues, including Hong Kong, the relationship between trade and labor standards, Northern Ireland and terrorism. In the meeting between Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Chirac, they discussed bilateral relations and Summit items. In the context of bilateral relations, Prime Minister Hashimoto formally invited President Chirac to visit Japan as State Guest, starting 17 November. In response, President Chirac said "domo arigato," or "thank you" in Japanese. In the meeting between Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Santer, they discussed the issue of development in the Summit context. They also discussed semiconductors and insurance.

Those are the announcements that I wanted to make, and I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.

Q: Now that KEDO is established, I would like to know what are some of the main things that are holding Japan back from normalization talks with North Korea at this stage?

A: In response to this question I can only tell you about the current situation. We have been having informal talks with North Korea in order to discuss the arrangements for the resumption of normalization talks. However, at this present stage, we cannot predict when or where the talks will be resumed. That is how matters stand now. We will be taking into account a number of factors when we consider the issue of normalization talks.

Q: Do talks between North Korea and the Republic of Korea have to go on in order for Japan to go on with the resuming of normalization talks with North Korea? How do North-South talks affect Japan's talks with North Korea?

A: We believe that a dialogue between North Korea and the Republic of Korea is essential for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. That is the reason we support the proposal for a Four-party Conference. In dealing with this question of normalization with North Korea, we must look at two aspects. One aspect is normalizing the anomalous state of affairs that have existed between Japan and North Korea since the war. The other is to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, which is one of the main objectives of the normalization talks. As I have said repeatedly, we will be maintaining close contact with the Republic of Korea.

Q: The North Korean delegation is in Japan. There was a report that they had contact with an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, and that they want higher contact in the Japanese Government. In some of the reports it was stated that they want to meet Director-General Kato of the Asian Affairs. Some of the reports said the Japanese Government might consider somebody else, could you comment on that?

A: I think you are well aware of our policy regarding specific contacts with North Korea. We do not comment on specific contacts with North Korea. In keeping with this policy I will have to refrain from making any comment, except to say that the possibility of setting up a meeting between the delegation and Director-General Ryozo Kato of the Asian Affairs Bureau has never crossed our minds.

Q: In the bilateral discussion between President Clinton and Prime Minister Hashimoto, was there any kind of plea from the U.S. side that Japan use economic or fiscal policy to ensure that the economic recovery picks up speed? If so, how did Prime Minister Hashimoto respond?

A: I am not aware of any discussion between the two leaders on that subject. The reason I say this is because they only had a 30-minute tete-a-tete meeting, in which only the interpreters were with them. You will have to ask the leaders to be absolutely sure. However, I have not heard any reports about that being discussed between the two leaders.

Q: Some investigators from the United States and England are here looking at the Sumitomo case. Can you comment at all on what the status of the investigation is, and also what the Government position is? In the past Japanese officials have insisted that there is no indication that there was any criminal wrongdoing in this particular case.

A: I cannot go into details because this case is under investigation. However, I can tell you that British authorities from the Securities and Investments Board (SIV) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and United States authorities from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) visited the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry yesterday and held discussions there. I cannot go into the contents of these discussions that were held at these two ministries. Our basic position is to extend whatever cooperation is necessary to assist the British and United States authorities.

Q: Has an investigation been commenced?

A: I cannot go into those details.

Q: Is there is any change in policy as a result of the information from the prosecutor or of the information from the U.S. and British authorities?

A: I am not aware of what was discussed, and I could not comment on it even if I were aware of the details.

Q: You mentioned, in the meeting with President Clinton and Prime Minister Hashimoto, that they tried to lay the groundwork for a semiconductor accord by 31 July. Do you have any more details about what they discussed in the meeting? They also set a deadline for 31 July on the insurance issue. Could you comment on this, as well?

A: All the information I have has been provided to you. There is nothing I can add to what I have already told you.

Q: For the insurance issue, they set the same deadline of 31 July. Do think this is any more serious than the prior deadline?

A: It is a deadline set by the two leaders. In that sense it is very serious. Also, they will be ordering their cabinet members to work hard toward resolving these issues. In that sense it is very serious.